''Besleria'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of ca. 200 species of large

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

s and soft-stemmed

subshrub A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or dwarf shrub is a short shrub, and is a woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a related term. "Subshrub" is often used interchangeably with "bush".Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Der ...

s or

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s in the

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

family

Gesneriaceae Gesneriaceae, the gesneriad family, is a family of flowering plants consisting of about 152 genera and ca. 3,540 species in the tropics and subtropics of the Old World (almost all Didymocarpoideae) and the New World (most Gesnerioideae), with ...

. They occur in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, and the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. The closely related genus '' Gasteranthus'' was previously included in ''Besleria''. The two genera have been separated on the basis of

stoma In botany, a stoma (from Greek ''στόμα'', "mouth", plural "stomata"), also called a stomate (plural "stomates"), is a pore found in the epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exchange. The pore is bor ...

tal (aggregated in ''Gasteranthus'', scattered in ''Besleria'') and fruit (fleshy capsule in ''Gasteranthus'',

berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

in ''Besleria'') characters.Wiehler (1975)

Selected species

* ''

Besleria aggregata ''Besleria'' is a genus of ca. 200 species of large herbs and soft-stemmed subshrubs or shrubs in the flowering plant family Gesneriaceae. They occur in Central America, South America, and the West Indies. The closely related genus '' Gasteranth ...

'' * '' Besleria comosa'' * '' Besleria elegans'' * '' Besleria fasciculata'' * '' Besleria formosa'' * '' Besleria leucostoma'' * '' Besleria lutea'' L. * '' Besleria macahensis'' * '' Besleria melancholica'' * '' Besleria miniata'' * '' Besleria modica'' * '' Besleria notabilis'' * '' Besleria princeps'' * '' Besleria quadrangulata'' * '' Besleria triflora''

Footnotes

References

* Wiehler, Hans.
BESLERIA L. AND THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF GASTERANTHUS BENTH. (GESNERIACEAE).
Selbyana 1, no. 2 (1975): 150–56.

External links

fro
The Genera of Gesneriaceae
Gesneriaceae genera {{Gesneriaceae-stub